they gave tax increases at the enof the year to president obama -- end of the year to president obama. now it's time for spending cuts. this is a fail-safe way that they're going to get spending cut and they're going to live with them. democrats don't like that discretionary spending will be cut as well. president obama has been warned about the effects on teachers, federal subsidies for teachers on head start on meat inspections. all sorts of domestic functions of government the democrats believe in and that all americans believe in. but the problem is unless you can prove to a public that is pretty skeptical of government those real consequences, it's hard to put effective heat on republicans to say, hey, raise some more taxes. >> john, how long do you think this could last if goes into effect and who would feel most of the impact? >> i don't think it will last all year. i think there will be a deal some time in the spring or early summer. and i think that deal will happen when you get negotiations on entitlement programs between democrats and republicans. republicans will find a wa